Box making machines



Oct. 11, 1966 H. VOLTMER 3,

BOX MAKING MACHINES Filed Dec. 20, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet l I A? I 2/ l x/J M w m r 1:

l I /z I INVENTOR.

Ham/r V04 7/ 452 ATTOE/VEVJ Oct. 11, 1966 H. VOLTMER BOX MAKING MACHINES 5 Sheets-$heet 2 INVENTOR. /74 M07 V04 TME/Q d WIM Filed D80. 20, 1963 Oct. 11, 1966 H. VOLTMER 3,

BOX MAKING MACHINES Filed D80. 20, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig. 7. H /Z 24 1N VENTOR. #51 MZ/f V04 was BYdQrW IW ATTUEA/EVS Oct. 11, 1966 H. VOLTMER BOX MAKING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 20, 1963 INVENTOR fiELMaT V04 7/ 452 Oct. 11, 1966 H. VOLTMER BOX MAKING MACHINES 5 Sheets-$heet .5

Filed Dec. 20, 1963 INVENTOR.

HTTOP/Vffif United States Patent 3,277,799 BGX MAKING MACHINE$ Hehnut Voltrner, Park Ridge, N..I., assignor to New Jersey Machine Corporation, Hoboken, N..I., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 20, 1963, Ser. No. 332,224 17 Claims. (Cl. 9351) This invention relates to paper box forming machines for setting up flat box blanks into box form and securing the side walls thereof together at the four corners thereof.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a machine capable of forming a paper box having inclined walls which are connected together at their ends that make the corners of the box by extension tabs with the aid of stay strips or a suitable adhesive.

A further object of the invention is to provide a paper box forming machine capable of automatically and reliably forming and positioning the aforesaid extension tabs in their proper positions to be connected, and then securing the positioned tabs together.

Other objects of the invention, as well as the advantages and novel features of construction thereof, will appear from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings which show an illustrative embodiment of the invention, and in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of a paper box blank of the type which the machine of this invention is designed to form;

FIG. la is a plan view of a portion of a similar type blank having a modified corner construction;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of one of the corners of a box formed from the blank of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of one corner of the formed box;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of such box corner;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the box forming machine showing in plan view the relation of the side wall and extension tab forming mechanisms;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 66 of FIG. 5 and showing the mechanisms for forming the tabs at two corners of the box and the forming block in position to advance and form a blank into box form;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but shows the forming block in an advanced position with the formed box thereon;

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional View taken along the line 8% of FIG. 5, the view being at right angles to that of FIG. 6 and showing the forming block in the position of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, but shows the forming block in the position of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a detailed, enlarged, perspective view of the tab forming mechanism for forming the tabs at one corner of the box;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 and illustrating the manner in which the tabs at one corner of the box are formed by such mechanism as the blank is advanced by the forming block which is not shown for the sake of clearness;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIGS. 10 and 11, but showing the shapes of the tabs at a box corner when the box has been advanced by the forming block to the positions shown in FIGS. 7 and 9; and

FIG. 13 is a partial horizontal sectional view illustrating the manner in which the tabs may be secured together.

The box making machine of this invention is essentially similar in construction to the box making machine described and illustrated in the Von Hofe et al., Patent No. 2,982,188, issued May 2, 1961. The machine of this invention differs from the machine disclosed in said patent "ice principally in the respect that it has been modified to manufacture paper boxes having inclined walls from blanks A such as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. It will be noted that the flat blank A is provided with a bottom 10 to which are hinged side flanges or walls 11, 11 and end flanges or walls 12, 12 of lengths equal to the lengths of the side and end edges, respectively, of the bottom 10 so that there are formed V notches or openings at the corners of the blank. Each side wall 11 is provided at its ends with integral longitudinally extending tabs 11, each of which is composed of a base or root portion 13 which is integral with and forms an extension of the outer or upper edge portion of the side wall 11, and an outer portion 14- disposed at an angle of approximately 45 to portion 13 so as to extend towards the associated end of the adjacent end wall 12 of the blank. In a similar manner, each end wall 12 is provided at its ends with integral longitudinally extending tabs 12 constructed similarly to tabs 11' and having similar base portions 13', and outer inclined portions 14 which extend toward the associated ends of the side walls 11 and in opposed relation to the associated outer inclined portions 14. It will be noted from FIGS. 2 to 4, that when the blank A is bent into box form so that the side walls 11 and end walls 12 thereof are angled outwardly properly relative to the bottom 11), such walls are secured together in such relation by joining associated pairs of the tabs 11 and 12. In their joined or connected relation, each pair of tabs 11 and 12 are in overlapped relation with the portions 13 and 14' of the tabs 12 engaging in overlapped relation the portions 14 and 13, respectively, of the tab 11. Each pair of tabs may be secured together by means of a suitable adhesive such as a known type of latex pressure adhesive which may be provided as layers 15, 15 on the opposed surfaces of the tabs 11 and 12', respectively. The usual type of stay strip 16, in FIG. 3, may also be applied to the four corners of the formed blank to secure together the ends of the walls forming such corners. The stay strips may cover only part of the height of such corners, for example, only the width of the tabs 11' and 12', or as shown in FIG. 3 may cover the entire height of such corners. The tabs 11 and 12 may also be constructed as shown in FIG. 1a to provide a full cornered box by extending the base portions 13, 13' and outer portions 14, 14' thereof along the widths of the side walls 11 and end walls 12 into the corners of the V notches at the corners of the blank.

The machine for forming the blank A into a box or tray, as is shown in FIGS. 5 to 13 of the drawings, is composed of a block or form 20 with which are associated folding devices for bending the wall panels or sides 11 and 12 of the blank up against the inclined sides of the form 211 as the latter descends in its advancing stroke. As in the machine of the aforesaid Patent No. 2,982,188, the blanks A are successively fed to the guide rails 21, 21 from a pile or stack of such blanks and registered with relation to the form 20 by mechanism such as as disclosed in such patent. In the downward movement of the form 20 in each cycle of the machine, the body of the registered blank is driven down between a plurality of breaker bars 22, 22 which fold the side flanges or walls 11, 11 of the blank up against the sides of the block or form 20, compare FIGS. 6, 8 and 7, 9. The block 21} drives the blank through the bars 22, 22 to a position where the tops and sides of each of the side flanges 11, 11 thereof are engaged by two pairs of fingers 23 and 24. The fingers 23 engage the top edges of the side flanges 11, 11 and function as stripping fingers to strip the finished box from the form 20 on the next upward movement of the latter. The fingers 24 are utilized as holding fingers and hold the side flanges 11, 11 against the sides of the forming block 20 during the securement of the tabs 11 3 and 12. Also when the form 20 is retracted, the fingers 24 hold the stripped box in suspended condition until the crimper bars or blades operate on the bottom folds of the side flanges of the box in the manner disclosed in said Patent No. 2,982,188.

The end walls or flanges 12, 12 of the blank are folded up against the forming block 20 in the downward movement of the latter, by a pair of end folding members 25, 25 provided at the ends of such block. The members 25, 25 may each be constituted of a plurality of segments having interconnecting male and female ends by which they may be interenegaged in an endwise fashion, and each of such members 25 are supported at its ends on a pair of vertically disposed plates 26, 26 provided on the corner blocks 27 on which are mounted the stay feed and stay applying mechanisms of the machine, as disclosed in said Patent No. 2,982,188. The folding members 25, 25 are located so that they come into engagement with the end flanges 12, 12 of the box blank A before the side flanges 11, 11 thereof come into engagement with the spring fingers 23 and 24. The inner surfaces 26' of the plates 26 provide holding edges for holding the end flanges of the box blank up against the form 20 after the box passes below the members 25, 25 in the downward movement of such form and during the securement of the pairs of tabs 11' and 12', as is shown more clearly in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawings. The plates 26 are so formed that they will not interfere with the operation of pressure members 28 in FIG. 13 for securing the pairs of tabs together or for applying strips of stay material to the box.

As the box blank A is being forced down by the forming block 20 between the breaker bars 22 and the end folding members 25, means cooperate to automatically bend and position the pairs of tabs 11' and 12' in proper overlapped relation to be adhered together by the pressure members 28. The said cooperating means comprise two forming members 35 mounted on each of the breaker bars 22 and located adjacently to the upper ends of the two plates 26 which are associated with such breaker bar. The forming members 35 are each integral with the outer end of a plate 36 that is slidably mounted on the inner vertical face of a breaker bar 22 by means of bolts 37 that extend through a horizontal elongated slot 38 in such bar and which may be tightened to secure the plate 36 in place on the breaker bar when the forming member 35 has been properly positioned for its forming operations on a particular size of blank A. It will be noted from FIG. that each plate 36 is located on a breaker bar above one of the pairs of stripping and holding fingers 23, 24, respectively, and that the forming member 35 thereof is located on such breaker bar between the vertical bar 39 on which such fingers are mounted and the associated plate 26. The outer end 40 of each forming member is disposed at its upper end at an angle of approximately 100 to the plate 36 and is inclined downwardly and inwardly so that the inner face 40' of such outer end 40 slopes from a position over and above the upper end of the associated plate 26 to a position adjacently spaced from the upper end of the inner vertical surface 26' of such plate 26. In its downward slope the inner face 40' progressively diminishes its angle with respect to the plate 36 so that at its lower end such face is disposed at an angle of about 90 to the plate 36 and is in substantial parallelism with the surface 26 of plate 26.

It will be understood from the foregoing that as the blank A is being forced down by the forming block 20 between the breaker bars 22, each of the tabs 11 on the side walls or flanges 11 of the blank will come into engagement with a forming member 35. The inner surface 41 of the base portion of each member 35 has a configuration approximating that of the base portion 13 of tab 11' and cooperates with said inner face 40 of such member, as the blank is forced downwardly, to progressively bend the outer portion 14 of such tab to form such tab base portion 13, so that by the time the tab 11' has moved downwardly on the forming member 35 to approximately the position shown in FIG. 11, the tab will be formed. As the form 20 continues its downward movement, the formed tab 11 will slip off the forming member 35 and come into a vertical corner defined by the vertical plate 26 and a vertical guide bar 45 disposed adjacent to and at right angles to the inner vertical surface 26' of plate 26. As is shown in dotted outline in FIG. 12 of the drawings, when a formed tab 11' moves from the forming member 35 to the plate 26 and guide bar 45, the base portion 13 thereof will overlie the inner guide surface 45' of guide bar 45 which is in substantial alignment with surface portion 41 of the forming member, and the outer portion 14 of such tab will overlie the inner guide surface 26' of the plate 26. As the blank is forced down from this poistion by the forming block 20, the guide surface alone will function to maintain the formed condition of the tab 11' until just before the blank comes into engagement with the fingers 23, 24, as shown in FIG. 12.

At the same time that the tabs 11 are being formed, each of the tabs 12' is being formed by a plate 26 and an associated plate 50 integral with and supporting the vertical guide bar 45 which depends therefrom. Each plate 50, of which there are four, is located adjacently to the outer end 40 of an associated forming member 3-5 and is slidably mounted on the inner vertical, face of a breaker bar 22 by means of bolts 51 that extend through one of the elongated slots 38 in such bar and which when tightened secure the plate 50 in an adjusted position on such breaker bar. The upper inner corner of each plate 50 is curved to provide a curved forming surface 50 Which engages the outer end 14' of a tab 12 and progressively bends it inwardly as the blank A is initially forced down by the forming block 20. As the block 20 continues its downward movement, the bent tab portion 14' rides down on the inner edge 50" of plate 50 until the box end 12 on which it is provided engages the associated end folding member 25 and the rounded top end surface 26 of the member 26. Following this, as the block 20 and the box blank A continue their downward movement, the tab 12' is forced by such surface 26" through the associated box end 12 toward the outer end 40 of the associated forming member 35, as shown in FIG. 11, then engages the rounded, inclined surface 45" at the top of guide bar 45 which cams the tab portion 14 inwardly into engagement with the inner surface 45' of such guide bar or member 45. As at the same time the associated tab 11 is moving downwardly, the tab portion 14' will move into overlapping relation with the portion 13 of tab 11' and the portion 13' of tab 12 will come into overlapping relation with the portion 14 of tab 11, as shown in dotted outline in FIG. 12 of the drawings. The inner vertical surface 45 of the vertical guide 45 and the inner vertical surface 26 of the plate 26 through its engagement with the associated end wall 12, will maintain this relation of the tabs 11 and 12' until the side walls 11 of the box move into engagement with the associated fingers 2-3, 24 whereupon the presser members 28 will come into operation to secure each pair of tabs together.

The presser members 28 which are provided at the four corners of the folded box on the forming block 20 in the lowermost position of the latter, are slidably mounted on the four corner blocks 27 and are constructed and operated in a manner similar to that of the four stay pressers forming part of the machine disclosed in said Patent No. 2,982,188. Thus like the stay pressers disclosed in said patent, the presser members 28 will slide inwardly into engagement with each pair of tabs 11', 12' forming a corner of the box to press such tabs against a corner of the form block 20. If the engaged surfaces of the tabs 11', 12 are provided with layers 15, 15 of a suitable latex adhesive they will be adhered together under such pressure. If the adhesive of such layers 15, is of the thermoplastic type, the presser members 23 are preferably provided with electric type heating elements in the manner of the stay presser heads disclosed in said Patent No. 2,982,188. If it is preferred to apply stay strips 16 to the corners of the box in the manner indicated in FIG. 3 of the drawings, the machine is additionally provided with stay feeding and cutting means of the type disclosed in said Patent No. 2,982,188.

When the pairs of tabs 11', 12 have been secured together in the manner indicated to complete the formation of the box by this machine, the forming block 20 is retracted to cause the stripping fingers 23 to strip the box off such block. The box is then held in suspended fashion by the holding fingers 24 while the folds of the box walls are crimped and until the box is ejected from the machine.

It is believed that an adequate understanding of the method of forming the tab type box corners with the apparatus of this invention will be obtained from the foregoing description thereof. While such description and the showing of the drawings, illustrate one form in which the invention may be practiced, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the subject matter of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a box making machine for forming set up boxes from flat box blanks having side and end walls and corner tabs projecting from the ends of and disposed in the planes of said walls, in combination, means for supporting a blank, a vertically movable box form movable downwardly into contact with a blank on said supporting means, forming members coacting with said form to fold said side and end walls into box form in the downward movement of said form, means associated with said members for bending a part at least of each of the tabs on said walls out of the planes of such walls and into overlapped relation with portions of such blank positioned against the corners of said form during the downward movement of the latter, and means comprising a presser member cooperating with each corner of said form to secure together the bent tabs and the overlapped portions of such blank material.

2. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 1, in which said associated means includes a first member associated with each corner of said form and having surfaces into contact with which a tab on a side wall of the blank is moved by the form and which are configured to bend the outer portion of such tab at an angle to the base portion thereof, a second member associated with said first member having surfaces into contact with which a tab on an end wall of the blank is moved by the form and which are configured to bend the outer portion of such tab at an angle to the base portion thereof, and means located below said first and second members for bringing the bent tabs into overlapped relation as the blank continues its downward movement by the form.

3. In a box making machine for forming set up boxes from box blanks having side and end walls and corner tabs projecting from the ends of said walls, in combination, a vertically movable box form movable downwardly to set up a box blank into box form, a pair of breaker bars coacting with said form to fold the side Walls of the blank against the latter in the downward movement of said form, a pair of end folding means coacting with said form to fold the end walls of the blank against the latter in the downward movement of said form, means carried by said breaker bars for bending each of the tabs on said side and end walls at a point intermediate its length in the downward movement of said form, means associated with said bending means for bringing each pair of bent tabs at the associated ends of a side and end wall of the box into overlapped relation against a corner of said form during the downward movement of the latter, and means comprising a presser member cooperating with each corner of said form to secure together the bent tabs in each of said pairs thereof.

4. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 3, in which said bending means comprise a pair of spaced tab bending members provided on each of said breaker bars and each having surfaces into contact with which a side wall tab is moved by the form and which are constructed to bend such tab intermediate its length in the downward movement of said form.

5. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 3, in which said bending means comprise a pair of spaced tab bending members provided on each of said breaker bars and each having surfaces into contact with which an end wall tab is moved by the form and which are constructed to bend such tab intermediate its length in the downward movement of said form.

6. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 3, in which said bending means comprise a first pair of tab bending members provided on each of said breaker bars to bend the tabs provided at the ends of a side wall of the box, and a second pair of tab bending members provided on each of said breaker bars to bend the tabs provided at one end of the end walls of the box.

7. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 6, in which said first pair ofbending members is located between and adjacently to said second pair of bending members.

8. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 4, including means for supporting each pair of said spaced bending members for longitudinal slidable movement on the inner vertical surface of each breaker bar.

9. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 5, including means for supporting each pair of said spaced bending members for longitudinal slidable movement on the inner vertical surface of each breaker bar.

10. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 4, in which each of said bending members comprises a plate connected to a breaker bar, and a forming element extending longitudinally from the outer end of said plate, said forming element comprising a longitudinally extending base portion having a configuration resembling that of the base portion of the bent tab, and an outer inwardly extending transverse portion having a configuration resembling that of the outer bent portion of the tab.

11. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 5, in which each of said bending members comprises a plate connected to a breaker bar and having a rounded corner at the upper end of its inner side for bending the outer end of an end wall tab at an angle to the base portion of such tab.

12. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 3, in which said associated means is located below said bending means and comprises means having curved surfaces located to receive a pair of bent tabs at the associated ends of a side and end wall of the box from said bending means and to direct said pair of bent tabs into overlapping relation wherein the outer end of one bent tab in such pair overlaps the base portion of the other tab in such pair.

13. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 12, in which said associated means includes vertical guide members depending from said bending means and located adjacent to the four corners of said form, the upper ends of said guide members being provided with said curved surfaces located to receive the bent tabs from said bending means, and being provided with inner vertically disposed guide surfaces for maintaining overlapping pairs of tabs in their overlapped relation.

14. In a box making machine such as defined in claim 13, in which said end folding means are provided with vertically disposed surfaces coacting with said inner guide surfaces of said vertical guide members to maintain the overlapping pairs of tabs in overlapped relation.

15. In a box making machine for forming tapered set up boxes from blanks having side and end walls and corner tabs projecting from the ends of said walls, in combination, means for supporting a blank, a vertically movable box form movable downwardly into contact with said blank, stationary forming guides to progressively bend and superimpose said tabs about such form during the downward movement of the latter, and means to press such tabs together when the form reaches its most advanced position at the end of its downward movement.

16. In a box making machine as defined in claim 1, in which said associated means includes a member associated with each corner of said form and having surfaces into contact with which a tab on a wall of the blank is moved by the form and which are configured to bend the outer portion at least of such tab at an angle to such wall, and means located below said member for bringing the bent tab into overlapping relation with an associated blank portion positioned against such corner of the form.

17. In a box making machine as defined in claim 1 for forming box blanks having corner tabs projecting from the ends of each of said walls and one of such tabs in the pairs thereof at the associated ends of the side and end walls constituting said blank portions, and in which said associated means is constructed and arranged to bend each of the tabs on said walls at a point intermediate its length and to bring each pair of bent tabs at the associated ends of a side and end wall into overlapped relation against a corner of said form, said pressers securing together the bent tabs in each pair thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,715,585 6/1929 Woodworth 934l 2,925,758 2/1960 Beetz 935l 2,995,991 8/1961 Trelford 935l BERNARD STICKNEY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A BOX MAKING MACHINE FOR FORMING SET UP BOXES FROM FLAT BOX BLANKS HAVING SIDE AND END WALLS AND CORNER TABS PROJECTING FROM THE ENDS OF AND DISPOSED IN THE PLANES OF SAID WALLS, IN COMBINATION, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A BLANK, A VERTICALLY MOVABLE BOX FORM MOVABLE DOWNWARDLY INTO CONTACT WITH A BLANK ON SAID SUPPORTING MEANS, FORMING MEMBERS COACTING WITH SAID FORM TO FOLD SAID SIDE AND END WALLS INTO BOX FORM IN THE DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID FORM, MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID MEMBERS FOR BENDING A PART AT LEAST OF EACH OF THE TABS ON SAID WALLS OUT OF THE PLANES OF SUCH WALLS AND INTO OVERLAPPED RELATION WITH PORTIONS OF SUCH BLANK POSITIONED AGAINST THE CORNERS OF SAID FORM DURING THE DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF THE LATTER, AND MEANS COMPRISING A PRESSER MEMBER COOPERATING WITH EACH CORNER OF SAID FORM TO SECURE TOGETHER THE BENT TABS AND THE OVERLAPPED PORTIONS OF SUCH BLANK MATERIAL. 